Brake



A. F. KLASING Jan, 6, 192 s.

BRAKE s Sheets-Shet 1 Filed Jan. 9, 1920 Moira; 3 00%? KLASING BRAKE 3 sts-sheet 2 Filed Jan. 9,

VII/l/I/I/IL/ Jan. 6. 1925. 1,522,249

A. F. KLASING BRAKE 2 [III t? s Z hereinafter described, for carryingout the sa e Jan. 6, 192's."

" UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS F. KLASING,.OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, "ASS IGNOR TO THE KLASING OARI BRAKE COMPANY, A CORPORATION -OF COLORADO.

BRAKE.

s lpplication filed January 9, 1920. Serial No. 350,291.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, AUGUSTUS F. KLASING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Brakes, of which thefollowingis a specification.

My invention relates to railway car brakes, and particularly to manuallyoperated brakes. Owing to the increasing weight of modern freight carsand the speed which they attain in themodern switch yards, it hasbecomevery diflicult with, the old form of hand brake, comprising abrake stafi around which the brake chain is wound, to apply suflicientpower to the brake toretard the movement of the car or to apply suchpower quickly 'enoughto prevent 001- lision with other cars. Inthis typeof hand brake the hand wheel secured directly to the brake stafi doesnot ofier sufficient leverage to apply adequate power; moreover,thelarge amount of-slack in the brake chain. makes it impossibletosetthe' brakes quickly. The object of my invention is to provide animproved brake setting mechanism, of inexpensive and durableconstruction, by means of which great power may be quickly applied to"the brakes.

Y A further object is to provide an improved device for winding andreleasing the chain or the flexible connection in this type of brake,which is capable of exerting a powerful pull on the chain.

The invention consists in the novel ar-. rangements, constructions anddevices, to be.

. above stated objects, and such other objects 2 as will appear from thefollowing descrip-,.

- tion of certain preferred embodiments of the invention, illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective illustratingthe application of myimproved brake to a box car;

Fig. 2 shown in the lower portion of Fig. 1, for transmitting the, pullof the brake anism to the brakes;

Fig. 3 is an elevation, taken partly in section of my improved brakemechanism;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line H of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly'in section,

is an elevation of the bell crankmechofc la modified form of brakemechanism; an

Fig. 6 is a vertical section thereof, takention, anda hell crank 13 fortransmitting the pull on the rod 11 to the chain 14 running to thebrakes. The brake setting mechanism is preferably attached to the end ofthe car, the power applying means 10 being placed near the top thereof,so that the brakes maybe conveniently set by. a brakeman standing on theusual step 15. It is not necessary that the brake setting mechanismextend above the roof of the dar.

It is preferably placed on the end of the car near the top. By reason ofthelocation" .of the power applying means 10, it is possibleto build thecar higher than those using the ordinary brake-setting means, in whichthe hand-wheel is above the top of the car. The -car buildingregulations limit the height of thecar by the height of the brake wheelabove the rail, which must not exceed a certain amount. 1 g

These regulations also specify the, minimum distance between the top ofthe car and the hand-wheel, thuslimiting the heightof the car.

Power is applied to the brakes by winding the section of chain 12 arounda' drum 16,

mounted within the housing 17, and adapted W to rotate around: the shaft18.

' Thewinding drum 16 is made sufliciently large, so that the slack inthe brake mechanisln may be removed and the brakes set by only a partialrotation'of the winding drum.

As a'result of the'elimination of'theold brake staff around which thebrake chain 5 winds, a large amount of the slack in the brake mechanismis eliminated, so that the brakes may be setby winding gnly about fromtwelve tofifteen inches of chainaround the brake drum 16. e

Attaching lugs 19, preferably cast integral with the housing 17 areprovided for at-" taching the power applying means 10 to the I j carbody. Ajgear 20 rotated by the pinion 21 is adapted to wind the chain 12on the drum. The gear is preferably cast integral with the winding drum16, although, if desired, it .may be made separately andattached to thedrum by any suitable fastening.

A handle 22 for rotating the drum 16 is operatively connected with thepinion 21 by means of a ratchet 23 and pawl 24. The ratchet-23 is formedintegrally with or secured rigidly to the pinion 21. The pawl 24 ispivoted at 25 within the handle and adjacent the ratchet, the oppositeend of the pawl overhanging the pivot 25 sufliciently to maintain thepawl in engagement with the ratchet for the purpose of rotating thepinion 21. The handle fits over a hub 26 on'the ratchet 23, and isoperatively con nected thereto by means of the shaft or rod 27 formingthe common axis of the pinion 21 and ratchet 23. For the purpose ofexcluding dust and other foreign substances from the pawland ratchet,the handle is provided with a housing 28 extending as completely aspossible around the pawl and ratchet.

For the purpose of holding the brakes in set position and for preventingthe reverse rotation of the winding drum 16 when the brakes are beingset, a dog or pawl 29 is disposed within the housing 17 of the mechanismadjacent the periphery of the gear 20. The dog is mounted within thehousing by means of pivot pins 30 extending from opposite sides of thedog and adapted to slide within corresponding grooves or guides 31 inthe housing. This mounting permits a pivoting as well as a bodilymovement of the dog. The dog is provided with means 32, comprising inthe present disclosure a single tooth, for engaging the teeth of thegear 20 and preventing reverse rotation.

A weight 33 pivoted to "the housing 17 at 34 is adapted to engage the(10 29 by means of contact of the projections 35 and 36 on the weightand dog, respectively, the latter projection extending through thehousing at the point 37, for pressing the dog into engagement with theteeth of the gear 20. When in the position shown in Fig. 3, weight 33also serves by contact with the dog through the projection 38 to'holdthe tooth 32 of the dog out of engagement with the teeth of the gear20,so as to permit the reverse rotation of the gear and the release of thebrakes. I

In order to release the brakes and unwind the chain 12 from the drum 16,the weight 33 is first raised to the position shown in Fig. 3, incontact with the projection 38. The handle 32 is'then rotated in adirection to set the brakes, and to wind the chain 12 around the drum16, until the pressure of the gear 20 upon the tooth 32 of the dog isrelieved and the same rotates out of engage ment with the periphery ofthe gear. The

of the projection 20*.

the brakes a small projection 20 is provided;

on the gear 20 extending=from one ofthe sides thereof. This projectionmay be'a pin or merely the prolongation of one tooth of the gear beyondthe face thereof. The projection 20 is adapted to engagean extension 32extending from one side of the dog 29 toward the gear 20 so as to lie inthe path On the release of the brakes when thewinding drum 16 hasrotated to substantially the position as shown in Fig. 3 the projection20 strikes the extension 32 and rotates the dog 29 so that the tooth 32thereof engages, one of the teeth of the. gear 20. The rotation of thedog is suflicient to displace the weight 33 by means of the projection38 from the position as shown in Fig. 3 and cause it to swingdownwardly}. and engage the projection 36 by means iof the lug 35thereon, thus again placing the dog in operative engagement with thegear20. Inasmuch as the winding drum 16 is sufficiently large so that thebrakes may be set by only a partial rotation of the winding drum, thereis no possibility that the dog 29 will be disengaged from the gear bycontact of the'dog with the projection 20 during the winding operation.

The tension on the rod 11 may betransmitted to the chain 14 by anysuitable means. I prefer, however, to employ a special form ofbell-crank 13 having a moving pivot. The bell-crank comprises an arm 42connected with the end of the rod 11 which is forked for this purpose atthe point 43 by means of a pin or bolt. The other arm 44 extends at anangle from the arm 42 and is formed with a curved surface 45 aroundwhich the chain 14, connected to the bell crank at 46 is adapted towind, The surface 45 is preferably formed on an arc, having its centernear the pivot 47 of the bellcrank. The bell-crank is provided withoppositely extending studs or pins 48 which extend from the sides of theboll-crank at dog.

the rack 53 .runs along the rack 54 so that the pivotal point 47 movesin an inclined path corresponding to the inclination of the rack 54. Itwill be noted that when the brakes are being set, the pivotal point 47moves away from both the'brakes and the mechanism 10. This has adistending effect upon the connections'between the mechanism 10 and thebrakes and serves to more quickly remove the slack in the brakemechanism. Accordingly, all of the slack in the brake setting mechanismand in the brakes does not have to be removed by means of the winding ofthe chain 12 around the drum 16.

In Figs; 5 and 6 I have shown a modilied form of mechanism for rotatingthe chain drum. This modification comprises a housing 55 adapted to besecured to the car body by means of attaching lugs 56. A drum 57 forwinding the chain 12' is journaled within the housing on the shaftratchet 59. A pinion 60, having a squared o enin therein is fitted overa corres ondingly squared portion 61 on the shaft 58. The shaft isformed with a hub 62 over which portion the handle 63 fits for thepurpose of rotating the ratchet 69 by means of the pawl 64 pivoted tothe handle at 65. A bolt 66 serves to retain the handle on the shaft andthe shaft within the housing. A curved rack 67 is bolted or riveted at68 to the outer face 69 of the housing and positioned so as to be.concentric with the pinion 60. A plurality of pinions 70 rotatablymounted at 71 on one face of the drum 57 mesh both with the rack 67 andthe pinion 60. These p-inions act to transmit the rotational movement ofthe pinion' 60 to the drum 67 by reason of their engagement with thefixed rack 67.

One face 72 of the winding drum 57 is provided with a ratchet 73 adaptedto be engaged by the dog 74 positioned within the housing adjacent theperiphery of the ratchet 73. The dog 74 is mounted within the housing bymeans of studs or pins 75 projecting from opposite sides thereof whichengage in grooves 76 formed in the sides of the small housing77.

A weight 78 pivoted to the housing 77 at the point 7 9' serves both toretain the dog in engagement with the ratchet 73 and to hold the sameout of engagement with the ratchet 73 by pressing upon the projections80 and 81, respectively, formed on the A lug 82 extending from the face69 of the housing serves to disengage the pawl 64 from the ratchet 59whenever the handle 63 is rotated'in a reverse direction far enough sothat/the outer face 83 of the pawl engages therewith.

A projection 84 is adapted, as in the construction shown in Figs. 3 and4, to

Formed integral with the shaft is a' reset the dog 74 in engagement withthe v ratchet 73 by striking the projection 85 extending from the innerface of the dog. The engagement of the projection 84 with the projection85 causes the member 81 of the dog to strike the weight 78 sufficientlyto displace it from its position, as shown in Fig. 5, and cause it toengage the extension 80 on the ,dog and press the dog into engagementwith the ratchet 73.

The brakes are sct and released by the mechanism shown in Figs. 5 and 6in the same manner as withthe mechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 4, andaccordingly a, description of the operation is not believed to benecessary. v

From the foregoing it will be evident that by means of the windingmechanism herein disclosed it is possible to firmly set the brakes by aseriesof pulls on the part of the brakeman on the operating handle, theforce required being well within the strength of the brakeman.

1.. Brake setting mechanism comprising a housing adapted to be securedto a railway car, a winding drum and a gear secured thereto journaledwithin said housing, a pinion meshing with said gear, an

arm connected with said pinion by means 1" of a pawl and ratchet forrotating said pinion, a dog engaging said gear for preventing thereverse rotation thereof, means for ill) the brakes have been releasedfor returning a said dog to operative position. v

2. In a railway car brake, mechanism for setting the brake comprising ahousing adapted to be secured to the wall of a railway car, a windingmember journaled within'said housing and having a flexible elementconnected thereto and to the brake mechanism, and adapted to be wound onsaid member, a pinion associated with said member for rotating the same,an operating handle connected with said pinion by means of a pawl andratchet, and a stop adapted to engage said pawl for disengaging the samefrom said ratchet to release the brake. v

In brake setting mechanism, a flexible element connected to the brakemechanism, a housing adapted to be secured to the wall of the car, awinding drum j ournaledtherein and having the flexibleelement connectedthereto, a gear and pinion associated with said. winding drum forrotating the same, a dog engaging said gear for preventing the reverserotation thereof, means for disengaging said dog to permit the releaseof the brake. a member on said gear for engaging said dog to cause it tore-engage said gear after the release of the brake, an operating handleconnected by means of a pawl and ratchet to said pinion for rotatingsaid winding drum, and a stop adapted to engage said pawl 1 fordisconnecting said operating handle from said pinion on the release ofthe brake.

4. Abrake setting mechanism comprising a frame work adapted forattachment to a railway car, a winding drum journaled on said framework,means for giving said drum an intermittent rotary motion for setting thebrakes, a dog adapted by engagement with said drum to hold it againstrotation in the direction for releasing the brakes, a movable weightdevice adapted alternately by contact with the dog on opposite sides ofits pivotal axis to hold the dog normally either in or out of operativeposition, and means associated with said winding drum cooperating withsaid dog for moving the same into position for preventing movement ofsaid drum in one direction. c

5. In apparatus for operating the brakes ot' a railway car, thecombination of a winding drum, a housing in which said drum is arranged,means for imparting intermittent rotary movements to the drum, andreleasable means for holding the drum against reverse rotationcomprising a toothed wheel on the drum, a dog pivoted within the housingadapted to engage said toothed wheel. the extremities of which dogproject out of the housing. and a weight pirotally mounted on theoutside of the housing adapted to bear against either extremity of the'dog to hold the dog either in or out of engagement with the wheel. K

6. In apparatus for operating the brakes means for holding the drumagainst reverse v rotation comp-rising a toothed wheel on the drum, adog pivoted within the housing adapted to engage said toothed wheel, theextremities of which dog project out of the housing, a weight pivotallymounted on the outside of the housing adapted to bear against eitherextremity of the dog to hold the dog, either in or out of engagementwith the wheel; and projections on said wheel and dog adapted toengagewhen the drum is re turned to its normal position to reset the dog andweight to their normal positions.

T. A brake set-ting mechanismwincluding in combination, a casing, awinding drum therein, a pinion connected thereto to rotate the same. aratchet and pawl operative to rotate said pinion, a dog for holding saidpinion in selected position, means exteriorily of said casing fordisengaging said dog, and means on said pinion cooperating with said dogfor resetting the same for holding purposes.

' AUGUSTUS F. KLASING

